Excellent Elbow show met with ‘Open Arms’ by appreciative fans

Date Published: {J}

Galway based music fans had plenty to enjoy during the summer with some great shows at the Arts Festival.

But those looking for a further festival fix would have been well-advised to make the trip to Belfast’s Belsonic Festival, a series of outdoor concerts which took place between Tuesday, August 16 and last Saturday, August 27. Now in its fourth year, Belsonic takes place in the city’s Custom House Square, which holds up to 5, 000 punters.

This year, there were shows by superstar MC Dizzee Rascal, Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye, Plan B and, for dance music fans, a set from Tiesto. You could have also partied like it was 1991, when Primal Scream reprised their seminal album Screamadelica.

But on a rainy Wednesday in Belfast, people were out for an evening with Elbow. The Mancunian quintet made the move into bigger venues with the 2008 Mercury Prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid. Released this year, its follow-up, Build a Rocket Boys confirmed their place as the thinking-person’s stadium band.

But before Elbow took to the stage, there was the minor matter of the support slot from Dublin band Villagers. Lead singer Conor O’Brien recently won a prestigious Ivor Novello songwriting award, and Villagers were also the subject of a special edition of John Kelly’s arts programme, The View on RTÉ 1 television.

As soon they strike their first note, it’s clear that a year of relentless gigging has turned a promising band into an excellent one. The band kick off with Set the Tigers Free and soon win over the crowd, many of whom are hearing Villagers for the first time. O’Brien is an arresting front man, a combination of shyness and swagger. He’s earned the latter – especially with a song as sublime as Becoming a Jackal, the title track of Villagers’ debut. When O’Brien looks out into the crowd and sings “So before you take this song as truth, you should wonder what I’m taking from you/How I benefit from you being here, lending me your ears/While I’m selling you my fears”, there’s no doubting his fearlessness – and talent.

The two new songs that are aired (Grateful Song and The Bells) whet the appetite for the next Villagers album, due sometime in 2012. After Ship of Promises, they left to a chorus of cheers. The rain had held off for their set – as it did for the rest of the evening. To quote the locals, ‘happy days’.

An army of roadies took to the stage, taking off and bringing on gear. Without too much waiting around or ceremony, Elbow came on and launched into their show. They kicked off with a song that declared ‘looking back is for the birds’ – an appropriate statement for an evening that got better with each song.

Although they’re a supreme bunch of players (and this evening they’re backed by a string quartet), an Elbow gig is lifted by the easy-going charisma of front man Guy Garvey. He’s capable of throwing the shapes and hitting the big notes needed for such a show, but at the same time he achieves the remarkable feat of making you feel you’re in his sitting room.

Three songs in, he singles out a raucous bunch of young lads at the front who clearly adore him, chanting his name from the get go. He walks over to them and promises them a rocker; the band then start up Mirrorball, a mellow, slow-burning gem. As the disco-ball casts light across the Custom House Square, people are smiling, at ease in Elbow’s front room.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.